


Getting Up

by Shadowesque



Category: Red vs. Blue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 14:37:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12961506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowesque/pseuds/Shadowesque
Summary: Felix and Locus, pre-Club. Prompted: "so you've never felt the attraction that comes when someone capable of doing terrible things for some reason cares only about you?"





	Getting Up

“I swear to fucking god, Sam, if you give up on me now, I’m going to end up dead somewhere really unfortunate, and then I’m gonna come kick your ass in the afterlife. Then we can _both_ be unhappy, dead and poorer for it. Does that sound like a good time to you?”

Felix sat heavily beside Locus’ hunched form, rubbing at his eyes and blowing air out between his teeth. “Look. Listen, Sammy, I get it. I do! I was _there_ , remember? But you and I, we’re made of sterner stuff. We can’t just sit here pissing our lives away.”

Locus didn’t bother looking at his fellow ex-soldier. “Nobody’s making you stay.”

“Oh no. Nono _no_ , cuz, y’see, _you’re_ making me stay. And _I_ don’t wanna stay here. _I_ would rather be off somewhere else looking for chicks and money. Two things we are sorely lacking in this post-war fucko lifestyle you’re pretending to live.”

Sometimes, on rare occasion, Locus didn’t mind it when Felix yammered on. It provided a steadily familiar background noise to the chaos in his head. So instead of lodging another complaint, he just let Felix roll right along.

“And I know what you’re thinking,” which Locus couldn’t actually contest, because Felix was eerily accurate sometimes, when he wanted to be, instead of when he was just being a smartass—which was most of the time. “You’re thinking, ‘why is this any problem of Isaac’s? Why can’t Isaac just go running off on his own to find booze and money and women and leave me here to be a miserable jackass?’ And that’s a _very_ good question. And the answer should be _exceedingly_ obvious, even to you.”

Locus raised both bushy brows just visibly enough to share his curiosity.

“The answer, my mean, green friend, is that we’re _partners_.” Felix clapped a hand on Locus’ shoulder, squeezing and leaning in. “Partners are _there_ for each other. Partners don’t leave each other behind. And you wanna know what else we are? Fucking _survivors_. We have–” Felix laughed, perhaps with a hysterical touch on the edges of it. “We have seen some _shit_ , man. And we’ve come out the other side when _so_ many others haven’t. Which brings me to the third thing we are. Powerful.”

Locus had to admit that that last one intrigued him, which he indicated by canting his head enough to give Felix a sidelong look.

“We could give up and die. We could let the things that we’ve seen, that we’ve done take over our brains and our lives and destroy us, but we’re not gonna let that _happen_. Because for all that we’ve done, we’ve kicked so much ass, and we’ve survived the end of this _stupid bullshit_ war. We’re not gonna let our pasts bring us down, because our pasts should hoist us up. We were stronger than everything we faced, and we were stronger _together_. Post-war life isn’t going to be easy.” The hand patted his shoulder, voice taking on a softer tone. “You’re still hopped up on all that pain and blood and adrenaline, and you’re wondering what the fuck else you’re good for now. And I don’t have the answer to that. But here’s what I do know. What I do know is that if I leave and let you wallow in misery, you’re gonna die a broken nothing of a man. And I’m probably gonna get outnumbered and shanked by crossing the wrong people because of the wrong lady. C’mon, you know that’s me.” Locus breathed out something between a sigh and a chuckle of acknowledgment. “But together? Together, we’ve taken on the galaxy and _won_. So. I am not leaving this spot until you decide you’ll pick yourself up, get your head back in the game, and come with me.”

Locus sat up a little straighter, turning his head fully to look at his partner in war. The man was unreasonable, impulsive, cocky, and impossible to shut up. But he also had a point. At the end of the day, the end of the war, all they had left was each other, and they were stronger together than apart. He understood it, even as the haze in his head still swirled around and fogged up his outlook.

Felix stood, and Locus’ surprised gaze went with him. A hand was offered down at him. “We’re gonna take this one day at a time, Sam. And the first step is to get up.”

It seemed like a long and impossible road. He could barely see the path in front of him, much less the mythical end. But Felix insisted on having such a faith in their power together that he had to at least try to act worthy of survival. He reached up and grabbed Felix’s arm, letting his partner help him to his feet. “I’m up,” he said dryly to Felix’s winning grin.


End file.
